Titles were another inducement. Thus, Shahpur’s Umar Hayat Tiwana (who joined battle himself at the European front) became Sir Umar Hayat Tiwana, Khem Singh Bedi became Sir Khem Singh Bedi, and Chhotu Ram, an influential Jat figure in Rohtak district, was made a Rai Sahib. A slew of new nawabs, Khan Sahibs, Khan Bahadurs and Rai Bahadurs emerged. For other helpers, there were swords of honour and grants of money or land. Given ‘an opportunity to entrench their positions’, many Punjabis ‘responded with alacrity and scrambled to furnish men and material’.
